


Twist of Fate

by RobinsonsWereHere



Series: Whump Week 2019 [7]
Category: Psych
Genre: Gen, Kidnapping, Whump, light whump i guess, there's a certain irony in the chief of police breaking the law to keep her family safe, whump week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-27 21:06:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinsonsWereHere/pseuds/RobinsonsWereHere
Summary: Karen Vick upholds the law. The law keeps people safe. She knows this; she believes this wholeheartedly. She's dealt with parents before, or spouses, desperate to see their loved ones returned safely to them. She's sympathized with them, even as she explained why kidnappers shouldn't be paid off. But now, she's the one missing the people she loves. She's the one who has everything to lose.'Don't involve the police', the note says.She won't need to. She'll rescue them herself.





	Twist of Fate

**Author's Note:**

> this took longer than expected, sorry! also I didn't proofread it bc I was trying to get it up fast. Hope there aren't too many errors!

If one person can be said to ‘have it all’, there is a good chance Karen Vick is that person.

She’s the Chief of Police, and a good one, at that- her officers respect her, and crime rates have been steadily dropping since her appointment to the office.

She has a wonderful, loving husband, who not only accepts that her career will sometimes get in the way of their family activities, but fully supports her in her job. Even after over a decade of marriage, he still gets a goofy grin on his face when he sees her in the picture. When she’d been on TV a few weeks prior, he’d texted her not five minutes after the news segment- a gif of some comedian grinning and saying ‘that’s my wife!’

She has a daughter, growing up fast. Iris will start middle school in the fall. She is smart and kind and funny and Karen loves her more than anyone or anything in the world.

So yes, maybe Karen Vick does have it all. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be taken away from her. And one night, when the air is hot and the breeze barely blows and really, nothing should be abnormal, she’s bluntly reminded of that.

She returns home to an empty house, the door ajar. The lights are on and the table is set for dinner, but the entire house is silent. Karen notices three things.

One: A glass, knocked to the floor, in shards in a puddle of water.

Two: Blood, just droplets, like someone had gotten a bloody nose. It leads from the kitchen to the hall but not out the door.

Three: A note on the kitchen table. By the time she reaches it, Karen’s sure she already knows what it says.

_If you want them back, bring four thousand dollars in cash to the entrance of warehouse 434 on Helmeyer Avenue by 3am. Come alone. **Do not** involve the police._

There’s an image carelessly tossed beside the note. The film looks like the film Iris uses in her small Polaroid camera, and in fact, the camera itself is sitting on the other side of the table. Idly, karen thinks to check it for prints, but her attention is soon drawn back to the image in front if her.

Iris and Richard are both bound and lying on the floor of the back of a van. Richard has a black eye. Iris looks terrified.

Karen re-reads the note, swallowing the bile that rises in her throat. She should call in her detectives, start a task force. But the thought of what might happen to her family if she does makes her hesitate.

It’s almost eight pm. She has seven hours to make a decision. Right now, all she knows is that it won’t involve four thousand dollars in cash. How she saves her family? She’s got no clue. But there is no way she’s paying off these bastards when she has no way of knowing if they’ll even free Richard and Iris.

She needs some time to think.

\---

At ten minutes to three, Karen is in all black outside warehouse 434. She carries a briefcase full of cut up copy paper, which will hopefully serve as a distraction long enough for her to make her move. Now, all she needs to do is drop it off. Carefully, she approaches the entrance and sets the case on the ground. When nobody appears, she moves quickly off around the side of the building.

It’s been several years since she’d last scaled the side of a building, and it takes her a while. But she’s careful not to make a noise, and by three-fifteen, Karen is on top of the warehouse. Luckily, all the warehouses in this district are made from the same blueprint, so she knows her way in. The roof hatch isn’t even locked- in fact, the hinges have rusted off. She slides it aside and climbs down onto the catwalk.

From up here, she can see everything. There are two floors of catwalks, spiraling around the edge of the warehouse. They lead down to a shadowy corner, which is good. Karen will have the element of surprise. But more importantly, she can see her family.

Richard and Iris are bound to chairs in the middle of the floor, illuminated only by a few camping lanterns. The men guarding them are nothing but shadows, but those shadows are enough for Karen to see the silhouette of the guns they hold.

Honestly, at the moment, she doesn’t care about the tactical advantage of a bird’s-eye view. She just wishes she could see her daughter’s face.

One last time, Karen checks her weapons. Gun on her hip. Gun in the small of her back. Swiss Army Knife in her back pocket. She starts to move down the catwalk, only half paying attention to the men below her. Half attention is not enough.

Before she knows anyone is with her on the catwalk, someone is forcing her hands behind her back and shoving her to her knees. “Oh, are you trying to double cross us? You think you can trick us with some paper and then rescue your family?”

“I was planning on it,” she growls. 

He laughs, a grating sound. “Be a smart-ass. Doesn’t matter. Now you’re stuck too.”

\---

Karen sits on the ground, bound with sailing rope and propped up between Richard and Iris, who had gotten the courtesy of chairs. “Are you both alright?”

“We’re okay,” Richard answers. “Although I wish you’d stayed safe.”

“This is literally my job,” she retorts. And then, raising her voice, she addresses their captors. “I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing, but it will not turn out well for you.”

“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”

Karen gives a low, threatening growl as she wriggles her arms, testing the strength of the rope. Sure enough, she can reach her knife. As she saws at the ropes holding her, she keeps her attention on everything else.

The kidnappers are further away, out of reach of the lantern. They no longer seem to care if there’s a gun on Karen and her family or not. They can’t see her.

Iris is shaking with fear. Karen can feel her behind her, silently terrified. She pauses to look up at her daughter. “Iris, look at me. It’s going to be alright. I’ll keep you safe.” Iris only nods.

She’s sure Richard can tell what she’s doing, and knows why she’s doing it. He’s gotten one hand around to rest on her shoulder. Karen draws courage from his touch as she saws at her bindings.

And then the ropes fall away, and karen stands. Her form distorts the light, spreading shadows. The kidnappers turn towards her, and she assumes a fighting stance, her knife still gripped in her right hand.

“I love you, karen,” Richard says hoarsely. She nods.

“Love you too, both of you. Iris?”

“Yeah?”

The four men are approaching. At least one has a gun. Karen is vastly outmatched. She takes a deep breath. “Close your eyes.”

**Author's Note:**

> leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed it!


End file.
